An Update...

I just put a pan of brownies in the oven to cook, so I thought I would take the few minutes while they are in there to write. We are heading out to a bbq that some other business school students are hosting and I needed something to take to share. I didn't want to go to the store, so brownies it is. I guess sweets are always welcome at parties. It looks as though it will rain this afternoon, so it will be interesting to see if the party is still on or not. Hopefully their house can accomodate a group. Adults are never a problem, but sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming with kids. We have the oldest kids by far though so if we can keep ours under control things seem to be okay.

The baby has turned somehow so his feet push on my bladder whenever he moves. It is very uncomfortable and every time he moves I feel like I will wet my pants. Not a great feeling!! Earlier this week, when I went for my checkup, his head was down and feet in my ribs. I will take that over this! I guess he still has room to move enough so that he twists and turns a lot. He was not a very active little fella until just the past few weeks and now he never stops moving. It is a reassuring feeling, but a little crazy at night when I am trying to settle down. Douglas and I have been discussing names a little bit...such a hard choice. There are a lot of good names out there, I just don't want to name my son a lot of them. It will come together when it has to, I guess.

I went with my friend Beth to the baby store today and picked up a car seat. I wish I didn't get so anxious about having everything together, but I do. I know I have two months, but it stresses me out to wait until the last moment. I feel like once school starts (September 6th) the time will just fly by.

Speaking of school, surprisingly enough Jackson has mentioned many times how excited he is to start school again. I am glad he is feeling that way. I think he feels pretty grown up with the idea of being in 1st grade. I really hope he makes some good little friends in his class this year. He loves having friends to play with and it was kind of slim pickings this year. Paige has so many friends in the neighborhood that she can play with and Jackson has very few. I let him call up one little boy this week and have him come and play and Jackson was in heaven. I think part of it is my problem since I feel so uncomfortable calling parents that I don't know. I don't feel comfortable sending my kids over to people's houses if I don't know the parents well, but I am beginning to think that may be my issue more than anything.

I decided that I wanted to bottle salsa this week. I had done some two summers ago when we were in Santa Clara and we really enjoyed it. My problem is that I always overdo it. Instead of buying just one box of tomatoes, I got two which turned out to be a lot of salsa and a lot of work! Luckily my friend Beth came and helped in the morning and then Douglas was a big help too. He set up an "outdoor kitchen" for me to work in so I wouldn't have to get so hot in the house. He put his big propane camp stove up, an extra table, chairs to sit on and fans to keep me kind of cool. It worked out really slick. It took all day, but we got it done. I tried a new recipe, so I am really hoping I like how it turned out. Oh, I forgot to mention that he put his big screened canopy up over the table to keep the sun, bugs and mosquitos out.

The mosquitoes have been SO bad this last month. I can't let my kids outside without putting bug spray on them and then they still get eaten alive. Douglas sprayed some sort of mosquito killer in the yard earlier this week though and it seems to have helped a lot. Hooray! I went out to cut the boys hair yesterday evening and didn't get a single bite which is unheard of lately. I guess they have been really bad this year because of the wet winter and they don't do anything to control them. I hate mosquitoes. The kids will wake at night scratching themselves to death. Paige got about 8 on one side of her forehead and one on the inside of her eye...all at one trip outside last week!

It has been so, so nice to have Douglas home again. He got home a week ago and since then have had a really great time as a family. It has been nice that he didn't have to go right back to school. We have been on many bike rides and outing, barbecued most of the week, cleaned out the garage, watched movies. It has been so fun. We leave on Monday morning for our camping trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. We have heard so many great things about it and can't wait to see it. It sits up against huge sand dunes that border Lake Michigan. The water is supposedly warm, clear, and great to play in. I think the kids will have an amazing time. We will stay there Mon-Wed and then we will drive to Mackinaw Island which is between the lower and upper peninsula of Michigan. Want to know what is crazy?? I had no idea there was an upper and lower peninsula to Michigan before we moved here!! I am excited to check Mackinaw out. You take a ferry over and there are no cars on the island...just horse drawn carriages, bikes and the like. Also, I hear they make amazing fudge up there...YUM!! I love fudge! We will just stay there for a day and then drive home that evening. It is about an eight hour drive from there to Ann Arbor. Long, but not horrible, especially if I am not doing it alone!

So, our very exciting news is that Douglas was offered a job by the company he interned with this summer. This is a very happy thing for us since Douglas really feels like he fits in there and they respect him a lot. The offer was way better than we had hoped for and it will be so nice to have benefits again...health insurance, signing bonus, moving services. I am so happy they pay to pack us and move us. Woohoo!! I hate packing!! They must have really liked Douglas because they sent the kids and me an "edible arrangement" last Saturday to thank the three of us for letting Douglas come and work for them. It was this cute "floral" arrangement made of fruits...strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew. It was yummy. The three of us gorged ourselves on fruit right after it came. It was so kind of them to think of us. They are also flying the whole family out there in a couple of weeks so that they can meet us and take me on a tour of a mine. They pay to fly us, put us in a hotel, feed us, etc. It will be nice to be wined and dined! I am 98% sure Douglas will accept the offer which means that next June St. Louis will be our home. I am okay with St. Louis, but sad that it is so far from all my family. I am really proud of Douglas for doing such a great job this summer. There are not many people who are offered a job so soon after their internship.

We have been spending a lot of time bike riding lately. A family in the ward gave us a little bike that attaches to the back of Douglas' bike and Paige can ride that while J and I ride our bikes. It allows us to take real bike rides which has been fun. We went out yesterday and rode along side the lake. Jackson whined most of the time, but hopefully the stronger he gets, the more he will enjoy it.